Harassment in LPG muddle

KOLKATA: Nearly two months after LPG subscribers were asked to submit know-your-customer (KYC) forms or risk getting their connection suspended, there's utter confusion and lack of clarity over an issue that concerns nearly every kitchen.

With just 10 days to the deadline, customers are still not clear on whether they need to submit KYC forms or what supporting documents they need.

The three oil majors have varying guidelines and distributors complain of lack of clarity at the company level. To further complicate matters at the 11th Hour, distributors have received a new list of several thousand customers whose gas connection will get blocked if they do not submit their documents by November 30.

"Of the 22,000 customers with India Trading Gas Co and Jay Kay Gas Co, we had received a list of 1,000 who needed to submit KYC forms. Three days ago, we received a fresh mail from the company with 2,100 names. We have to now check if all the names are new. It will take three more days to courier letters to the addresses, leaving just five working days to complete the formalities. It is a near-impossible task," said an official who represents both HP Gas distributors at the location opposite Khanna Cinema.

The confusion has allowed many LPG distributors the opportunity to harass and fleece customers. At these twin agencies, TOI saw the staff speaking rudely with customers and demanding particulars far in excess of what is stipulated by either the petroleum ministry or HPCL.

"This is my second visit. But despite waiting hours in queue, I don't know what to do. The staff bark at customers and treat them as though we have committed a crime by being on the list. There is just one person to deal with gas booking, KYC form submission, queries and transfer requests," said customer Kunal Saha of Jatin Mohan Avenue. He has a double cylinder against a single connection and does not have to fill up a KYC form now. But no one has bothered to tell him that.

TOI received several complaints that agencies were forcing customers seeking name or address transfer to buy tea, apron, pipe and other accessories. "It's a racket. The staff bluntly told me they will not process the transfer form unless I paid Rs 386 for a packet of tea and a pipe," a customer said.

At another HP distributor, Paul Enterprise located near Hedua, customers complained the agency has been demanding different sets of documents.

"When I came the first time a month ago, I was asked to get an address and photo identity proof. The next time, they demanded the ration card and bank account number. When I pointed out it was not mandatory in the form, the person at the counter said I could go to hell," fumed Chapal Mondal of Mahendra Goswami Lane, who wants to transfer the gas from his late father's name to his own.

Lipi Chakraborty has made five trips to the agency to surrender one of the two connections at her Hedua residence but in vain. "I don't know why they cannot paste a poster with the requirements instead of making everyone stand in a queue and then provide wrong information," she said. Customers at the agency had to purchase the KYC forms from an adjoining photocopy store.

A staff at the agency said everyone was to blame for the problem: HPCL for failing to give clear guidelines and revising the requirement from time to time, dealers for trying to shrug off responsibility in the wake of pressure from customers and the company, and customers for not paying attention to what is needed and what is not.

"As of now, only customers who have been contacted need to submit KYC forms, apart from those who want to revive a blocked connection, get name or address changed or apply for a new connection. Oil companies should have advertised the requirements clearly in the newspaper," he said, adding that HPCL had made submission of ration card photocopy and bank details mandatory from November 1 despite an HPCL official insisting that it was still optional.

At Nilagni, an Indane distributor off APC Road, and Home Aids, a Bharat Gas distributor, problems were relatively less. But while HP Gas and Bharat Gas are issuing new connections, Indane has put a freeze on new connections from September 26. "There's too much work at hand. The distributors need to first sort out the multiple connection issue before accepting fresh connections," said an IOC official.